Rabbi Isaac Nathan Fabricant
(1906 - 1989)

Born in Bow, East London, of Lithuanian parents, Rabbi Fabricant (m. Helena Freed in Brighton in 1932) studied at Jews' College and University College, London. In 1930, at the age of 24, he was appointed minister to the Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation, Sussex. During World War II, he served as senior Jewish chaplain to the Middle East Forces with the rank of major. He resumed ministry in Brighton after the war and in 1960 received semicha at Jews' College. Rabbi Fabricant's work intensified with the growth of the Brighton community, and in 1959 the congregation opened a second synagogue in West Hove (in addition to Middle Street in central Brighton). He retired in 1971, but stepped in (1978-1981) following the untimely death of Rabbi Unsdorfer and again briefly on the retirement due to ill health of Rabbi Susser in 1985. He was also, during the worst of the Troubles, visiting minister to the Belfast Synagogue when the community was without a resident minister. Author of A Guide to Succot, he was described as epitomising the very best of an older school of Anglo-Jewish rabbi, preacher and scholar. Father of Michael Fabricant MP. (JC profile 17 October 1986, obituary 20 October 1989.)

Rev. Maurice Isaac Fabritz
(d. 18 October 1959)

Rev. Fabritz (m. Gertie Koslovsky - d.1982) was reader of Norwich Hebrew Congregation, for almost thirty years (1921-1950) During World War II, he served in the ARP in Norwich, witnessing the destruction of the synagogue by enemy action, and assisted American chaplains conduct seders for over 1,600 Jewish soldiers based in East Anglia. Rev. Fabritz was minister of South Shields Synagogue (1950-1951) and of Darlington Hebrew Congregation (1951-1959). He is buried at Bushey cemetery, Hertfordshire. (JC obituary 20 November 1959; online history of Norwich Hebrew Congregation; and JYB listings.)

Rabbi Mordechai Fachler
(5 February 1949 - 23 November 2010)

Rabbi M. Fachler (m. Naomi Rosen, 1969), was born in Hitchin (next to Letchworth), Hertfordshire and grew up in Letchworth. He graduated from Carmel College, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, before moving to Israel to study at the Be'er Yaakov Yeshiva and the Mir Kollel. In 1973, he moved to South Africa and, after studying in the Johannesburg Kollel Yad Shaul, he took up a series of rabbinical positions. He was deeply committed to communal matters, particularly in the fields of education, counseling and mental health, and headed the Association of Jewish Principals and was involved in the Waverley Crisis Center's Emotional First Aid Station. After leaving Johannesburg for London, Rabbi Fachler was appointed acting head of Jewish Studies at Hasmonean Grammar School in 1998, before taking up his part-time post as Rabbi of the Shomrei Hadath Synagogue, West Hampstead, London, in 2000, serving such congregation until his untimely death at the age of 61, having just completed his studies towards an MA in Psychotherapy. Under the energetic leadership of Rabbi and Mrs. Fachler, the community saw a large influx of new members, including young families. He also served as senior consultant/counsellor at the London Clubhouse, which catered for disaffected religious teens at risk, and was one of the first to recognize the unique challenge of mental health interventions in a segment of the community where mental illness has tended to be stigmatized. He also worked with the Jewish Marriage Council and helped introduce the Prepare/Enrich programmes into the community. In light of the late Rabbi Mordechai Fachler's pioneering work in recognizing the unique challenge of mental health interventions in an under-served segment of the community amongst whom mental illness and treatment have long been stigmatized, the Family Therapy Unit in the new Multi-discipline Community Mental Health Centre at Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Centre, Bnei Brak, Israel, was named the Mordechai Fachler Family Therapy Unit. He is buried in Modiin, Israel. (Based upon Biography provided to JCR-UK by Rabbi Mordechai Fachler's brother, Rabbi Chaim Fachler.)

Rev. Jeremiah (Jerry) Nathan Fagan
(16 July 1916 - 22 March 1966)

London-born Rev. Fagan (m. Margaret, 1942) attended Etz Chaim yeshiva and Jews' College and was a leader in the Zionist youth movement, Habonim. He received training in chazanut from Rev. H. Mayerowitsch and his friend, choirmaster and composer, Samuel Alman, and studied voice production at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. In 1940, he was appointed as temporary part-time chazan (and Hebrew classes teacher) at Edgware Synagogue, London, and in 1946 was inducted by Dayan Lazarus as the congregation's chazan, serving in such position until his death in 1966, aged 49. He was also secretary of the congregation from 1942 to 1944. Rev. Fagan served as president and treasurer of the Association of Ministers (Chazanim) of Great Britain. (Communication from Rev. Fagan's son, Stephen; JC obituary 25 March 1966.)

Rev. Pinchas Chaim E. Faigenblum
(1909 - 1984)

Warsaw-born Rev. Faigenblum (m Fanny (Feiga) Zakon in 1937) served as cantor at the Rue de Langlangtiere Synagogue, Brussels, Belgium (1936-c.1939). He then served as chazan at the Nelson Street Sephardishe Synagogue, London for five years (c.1939-c.1944) and from there he went to Leeds New Central Synagogue, Wintown Street, Leeds, where he served for two years (c.1944-1946). He subsequently served as first chazan of Leazes Park Road Synagogue, Newcastle (1946-c.1948) and as chazan of Willesden Synagogue, London (1948-1959) and the neighbouring Cricklewood Synagogue (1959-c.1976). Rev Faigenblum often performed as chazan-soloist for the London Jewish Male Choir and in 1975 he recorded nine items of chazanut with the choir (available on Youtube). Following his resignation from Cricklewood synagogue, he retired to Netanya, Israel where he died. (JYB listings, JC obituaries, 6 April and 4 May 1984 and online biography by Rabbi Geoffrey L. Shisler).

Rabbi Leib Aisak Falk
(31 January 1889 - 6 May 1957)

Rev. (later Rabbi) Falk, born in Bauska, Latvia, was a nephew of Rev. J.L. Hilkowitz of Glasgow. His first post was with the small Ayr Hebrew Congregation, west of Scotland (1911-c.1912). He then briefly served as minister of two other Scottish congregations, the equally small, Inverness Hebrew Congregation (c.1912-1913) and the Dundee Hebrew Congregation (1913-1915), where he met and married Fanny Rosen, daughter of the community's president. In 1915 Rev. Falk was appointed minister of the Plymouth Hebrew Congregation. In 1917 the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, part of what became known as the Jewish Legion, or the Judeans, was stationed in Plymouth. Rev. Falk was appointed battalion chaplain and in 1918 he left Plymouth to conduct chaplaincy services in Alexandria, Egypt. His record at the front in Palestine was the subject of laudatory letters in The JC (11 July 1919 and 18 July 1919), including by Lt. Vladimir Jabotinsky. He returned to the UK from British Mandate Palestine in 1921. As Rabbi Falk he served as minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, from 1923 until his death and was also senior Jewish chaplain, Australian Forces. He was President of the Revisionist Zionist Party in Australia (Jabotinsky's party). The first Jewish library in Sydney, at the Great Synagogue, was named after Rabbi Falk. (JC obituary 10 May 1957 and reports.

Rev. Aaron Joshua Fass
(11 November 1890 - 7 July 1952)

Rev. A. Fass was appointed minister, teacher and shochet of the Bargoed Hebrew Congregation, south Wales, in October 1919, but served only two or three months. He also served at the Doncaster Hebrew Congregation, Yorkshire. He then served as shochet and mohel of the Polish Synagogue, Louis Street, Leeds, for about thirty years. He was the brother of Rev. Isaac Fass of Leeds. (JC Reports; Jolles's Encyclopaedia;.)

Rev. Philip Fassenfeld
(1870 - 25 May 1938)

Rev. Fassenfeld (m. Sarah Cohen), born in Krosnewitz, near Warsaw, impressed his teachers at the Bet Hamidrash at Krosnewitz with the clarity and quality of his voice that they encouraged him to study as a chazan. He followed his profession in several Russian towns and came to Britain in 1890, where he filled the office of chazan at the Plotzker Synagogue, London, for two years. He subsequently accepted the post of chazan of the Princelet Street Synagogue, London. He was active on the Committee of Workers among the Jewish Poor and at the time of his appointment as chazan of the Dalston Synagogue, Poet's Road, London in early 1907, he was vice-chairman and one of the founders of the Chazanim Choral Association. He served at Dalston for almost thirty years (possibly with a short break in the early 1920s) until his retirement in June 1936. He was praised for being a rare example of a chazan "who not only renders the service melodiously but also adheres zealously to the traditional tunes of Anglo-Jewry". (JC profile 14 December 1906, obituary and tributes 27 May and 3 June 1938 and various reports.)

Rev. Kalman Fausner
(11 July 1909 - 2 September 2007))

Born in Tyrwa (probably today Turawa, a village in south west Poland), Rev Fausner (m. 1st Frieda nee Klein in Antwerp - d 1956; 2nd Anne nee Simons) learnt at the famous Lublin yeshiva. He trained as a chazan in Antwerp, Belgium and then in Israel. Rev. Fausner was brought to Britain by the Hove Hebrew Congregation to serve as their chazan in 1933. The growth of the recently established congregation was attributed in part to the East European style of service and atmosphere created by the chazan, which was contrasted to the more Anglicised Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation at Middle Street. Also a teacher at the synagogue's Talmud Torah, Rev. Fausner retired in 1987 but conducted the Kol Nidrei service and leyned until his 90th year and led Shabbat kiddush until a few months before his death. He is buried at Meadowview cemetery, Brighton. (JC obituary 19 October 2007 and profile by Rabbi Geoffrey Shisler.)

Rev. David Fay
(12 April 1854 - 10 March 1907)

Rev. Fay (m. Minnie, a daughter of Rev. David Joseph, of the Maiden Lane Synagogue, and a sister of the Rev. Morris Joseph) was educated at Jews' Free School, Spitalfields, London and was Hollier scholar in Hebrew at University of London. For some years he taught at his former school. His first ministry from 1877 was at Hull Old Hebrew Congregation, where he served as preacher and headmaster. He then served as minister of Bristol Synagogue (1880-1884) - the training ground of many prominent Jewish ministers - and became minister and secretary of the Central Synagogue, London (1884 to 1902). He organised the first special services for girls and established the congregation's Hebrew and religion classes. He was hon secretary to the Ministers Visitation Committee to the East End poor and for 18 years Hon Secretary to the Jewish Religious Education Board, which grew considerably during this period and became responsible for the education of 8,000 children. Due to ill health he retired in 1902 to Westcliff on Sea where he died. (Jews in Bristol by J. Samuel, 1997 p.91, JC obituary 15 March 1907, various reports and tributes and JYB listings.)

Rev. Emmanuel Feldinger
(c.1913 - May 1979)

Menachem Mendel (Emmanuel) Feldinger (m. Bertha (Bracha)) was born in Muncaz (today Mukachevo, in a region known as Subcarpathian Ruthenia, which had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918, then became the most easternly part of Czechoslovakia, then Hungarian, before being annexed by the Soviet Union and is now part of the Ukraine). He studied voice production in Budapest and was appointed chazan in Muncaz and in Freistadt, Czechoslovakia. In 1939, he escaped Hungary, travelling with his wife and sister through Nazi-occupied Europe, narrowly avoiding arrest, arriving in London destitute. Rev. Feldinger served as reader at the Notting Hill Synagogue, London (1939-1946). He then joined the St. Annes Hebrew Congregation (1946-1974), became the longest-serving official in the history of the congregation, serving as reader, shochet and headmaster of the Hebrew school for over thirty years. He retired to Israel where he died in Bnei Brak. The St Annes Hebrew congregation dedicated a study room at Ponevezh Yeshiva, Bnei Brak, in his memory (JC article 15 March 1968, obituary 25 May 1979; communication fromHilary Thomas; and profile by Rabbi Geoffrey Shisler.)

Rabbi Elchonon Feldman

New York born Rabbi Feldman, BA, (m. Jacqueline) received semicha in Israel in 2011. He and rebbetzen Jacqueline served as the rabbinic couple at Belmont Synagogue, London (c.2011-2016) and Bushey United Synagogue, Hertfordshire (2016 to present - June 2021). (JYB listings and profile on Bushey Synagogue website.)

Rabbi Chaim I. Feldman
(1932 - 25 February 2020)

Llanelli-born Rabbi Feldman studied and received semicha at Gateshead Yeshiva and continued his learning with a number of learned rabbis in Israel. He returned to Britain to continue studying at the Gateshead Kolel and also served as director and rav of the Gateshead Jewish Boarding School (for Boys) from 1960, succceding his late father-in-law, Rabbi Dr. M.L. Bamberger. He served until 1963, when he joined the Golders Green Beth Hamedrash (Munk's Shul), London, as assistant rabbi, becoming its rav in 1968 unti his retirement in about 2007. (Hamodia online obituary 27 February 2020.)

Rev. Marks Fenton
(mid/late 1860s - 26 January 1919)

Warsaw-born Rev. Fenton (m. Clara) lived in the Birmingham area in the 1890s. He served as shochet, mohel and teacher to the Dudley Hebrew Congregation from January 1902 to 1903 and was minister of the Magnus Memorial Synagogue, Chatham, Kent, from 1903 until 1919. He was buried at the Chatham Jewish Cemetery (view image of gravestone). (Jolles's Encyclopaedia; A Fitting Memorial, a brief history of Chatham Synagogue by Irina Fridman; JYB listings; and JC reports.)

Rabbi Eliezer Jacob (Jack) Ferber
(July 1909 - 3 April 1998)

Born in Zager, today Zagare, in Lithuania, Rev. later Rabbi Ferber (m. Sylvia - d.2005), the son of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Ferber, was three months old when he was brought to England. He studied at the Etz Chaim yeshivah, in London's East End. He served as reader of Bloomsbury Synagogue, London until mid-1941. In 1941 he was briefly minister to the evacuee community at Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Rev. Ferber left in 1942 for the Cheltenham Hebrew Congregation, Gloucestershire, where he served as minister for the remainder of the War and as chaplain to the forces. In 1946 he was appointed the first minister of the newly-established Hounslow Synagogue, west London, and became Officiating Chaplain to the R.A.F. (Uxbridge and Ruislip Stations). In 1952 the East Ham, Manor Park and Ilford District Synagogue, east London, appointed him their minister. He gained semichah in 1957. In 1959 Rabbi Ferber became the minister of the newly established Wanstead and Woodford Synagogue, in northeast London, serving there until he retired in 1974. He published a volume entitled "Studies in Halachah" (1939). He was brother in law to Rabbi Morris Davidson of South West London synagogue. He is buried at Waltham Abbey cemetery. (JC obituary 22 May 1998; Studies in Halacha and profile on Jewish Miscellanies website; JYB listings.)

Rev. Benson Fertleman
(c.1897 - 2 January 1942)

Born in Eastern Europe, Rev. Fertleman was minister to the Grimsby Hebrew Congregation, Lincolnshire (1920-1922). He was later in charge of the Hebrew classes at Finsbury Park Synagogue, north London, and was minister of West Ham District Synagogue, east London. His wife Bertha, who predeceased him by a matter of months, was sister of Rabbi Alec Silverston of Southport. Bertha was praised for her communal work in Helston, Cornwall, where she was evacuated with her children at the outbreak of the war. Rev. Fertleman is buried at East Ham cemetery. His death left four orphaned children. (JC, various reports and internet research.)

Rabbi Asher (Oosher) Feuchtwanger
(7 July 1911 - 20 October 1977)

Antwerp born Rabbi Feuchtwanger, known as Reb Oosher arrived in Britain in 1937. In 1940, he was interned, initially on the Isle of Man and then shipped to Australia aboard the infamous HMT Dunera. Once in Australia, Rabbi Feuchtwanger obtained an immigration certificate to Palestine, from where he was able to return to Britain to resume his studies in London. In 1945, he married Flora Sassoon, the sister of Rabbi Solomon David Sassoon and moved to Letchworth, Hertfordshire, where his his wife's family lived. In 1950 he was appointed the communal rabbi of Letchworth Hebrew Congregation, serving for twenty years. He also served from time to time as headmaster of the Letchworth Talmud Torah and was principal of the Letchworth Yeshiva, which exited in the 1950s. In 1970, he and the rest of the Letchworth Sassoon family moved to Israel. He died in Jerusalem. He was the father of Rabbi Jacob Aryeh Feuchtwanger and father-in-law of Rabbi Avraham Gubbay. (Yanky Fachler's Jewish Letchworth.)

Rev. Samuel Fillo
(b. 1844)

Warsaw-born Rev. Fillo (m. Regina) served as a chazan Breslau in 1879. Later that year, in December, he was appointed minister at the Cardiff Hebrew Congregation, serving until at least 1881. (Jolles's Encyclopaedia, pp. 460/1.)

Rev. Meyer Fine
(2 December 1919 - 8 October 1996)

Llanelli-born Rev. Fine (m. Hilda) was educated at Manchester yeshiva. During World War II, Rev. Fine joined the Welsh Guards and saw active service in France, Belgium and Holland, before being transferred to the Intelligence Corps. His first ministerial position after the war was as second reader at the Swansea Hebrew Congregation (1955-1956) followed by reader of the Merthyr Tydfil Hebrew Congregation, South Wales, from 1956 until about 1961. In 1961, he was appointed as minister at the Cathedral Road Synagogue of the Cardiff United Synagogue and as shochet and mohel serving the wider community in South Wales. He left in 1974 to take up the post of minister of the Leicester Hebrew Congregation, serving until his retirement in 1986. Afterwards he continued to serve the Leicester community as emeritus minister until his death. He was the father of Rabbi Yisroel Fine of Wembley and Cockfosters. (JYB listings; JC obituary and reports.)

Rabbi Yisroel Yaacov Fine
(b. 1948)

Rabbi Fine (m. Judy) was born in Swansea and was the son of Rev. Meyer Fine. He was educated in Cardiff and at Gateshead yeshiva (where he obtained semicha) and for 12 months in Jerusalem. He also attended chazanut classes at Jews' College and formed a choir which he conducted. In 1974, he was appointed to the ministerial team at the Newcastle United Hebrew Congregation, serving until about 1981. He then became minister at Wembley Synagogue, north west London (1982-1986), and then at Cockfosters and N Southgate Synagogue, from 1987 until his retirement 27 years later, in 2014. Rabbi Fine was first hon. principal at Wolfson Hillel primary school in Southgate, he established the Cockfosters Learning Centre and later helped set up the Southgate Mikvah and for a time chair of the United Synagogue rabbinical council. In 2015 he came out of retirement to act as temporary minister of Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue, Hertfordshire, following the illness of Rabbi Kanterowitz just before the High Holy days. In May 2023, he again stepped out of retirement to serve as a temporary part-time minister of Finchley Synagogue, Kinloss Gardens, northwest London, following the sudden resignation Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence. (JC, various reports.)

Rev. Harry Fineberg

Rev. H. Fineberg, from Kalisz, Poland, was appointed as reader, shochet and mohel to the Swansea Hebrew Congregation, Wales, in 1924. He served until 1946, when he left to emigrate to Palestine. (1980 souvenir brochure of the Swansea congregation, pp.55/63; and JYB listings.)

Rev. Jacob Fink
(1864 - 22 January 1927)

Born in Cracow, then part of the Austrian empire, Rev. Fink (m. Annie - d 1930) was principal reader of the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation from 1888 until his retirement in December 1924. Rev. Fink was president of the Birmingham chevra kadisha and a noted communal worker. He died at Hove, Sussex and is buried at the Brighton New cemetery. According to a former colleague: "He had remarkable power of attracting all classes of the community by his cheery disposition and quaint sayings...He was always ready with a moshel and anecdote." (JC obituary 28 January 1927 and tributes 4 February 1927; Photograph from September 1915.)

Rev. B. Finkelstein

Russian-born Rev. B. Finkelstein served congregations in Manchester and the Falkirk Hebrew Congregation, Scotland, prior to being elected reader and teacher at Langside Hebrew Congregation, Glasgow, in September 1914. (Caledonian Jews by Nathan Abrams, 2009, and Jewish Chronical report of 11 September 1914.)

Rabbi Beresh (Yissochor Dov) Finklestein
(1887 - 28 September 1977)

Rabbi Finklestein was born in Radom, Poland in 1887 to a family of Izbice-Radzin chasidim. He was an outstanding scholar in the field of rabbinic literature, kabbalah and chasidic thought. After receiving semicha at a very early age, he became Rabbi in Novozivkov, Russia. On returning to Poland he became president of the Jewish community of Chelm-Lubelski and of its yeshiva. Aware of the rise of Hitler and Nazism in the 1930s he brought his family to Britain in 1935 having first spoken publicly imploring others to do the same. He was Rabbi in Gateshead, Leeds and Carlisle before, in 1947, establishing a shtiebl in Cricklewood, London, called Keser Torah D'Radzin Synagoue - Cricklewood Beth Hamedrash (known as the Rebbe Finklestein Minyan) which functioned until several years after his death during Succot in 1977. As a protagonist of the Izbice-Radzin chasidic school he was one of the very few men in England to wear the techelet, cord of blue, in his ritual fringes. He left copious hand-written divrei torah and sermons some of which were published in 2021 under the title, Yad Hama'ayan based on the Chumash. He is buried at the Adath Yisroel Cemetery, Enfield. (JC obituary of 7 October 1977; Rav Finklestein's profile "A World Apart, The Story of Chasidism in Britain", by Harry Rabinowicz; communication with a family member.)

Rev. S. Finkelstein

Rev. S. Finkelstein served as reader of the breakway congregation from the Bradford Hebrew Congregation, Yorkshire, from at least 1896 to 1900 and was later the teacher at the Bradford Hebrew Day School (c.1900-c.1902). (JYB listings.)

Rev. Simon (or H.) Finklestein (later Stein)
(c.1870 - 20 May 1928)

Rev. Finklestein (also spelled Finkelstein) served Birkenhead Synagogue, on Merseyside, from about 1903 until about 1924, initially as minister and reader and later (from about 1910) as reader. At the time of his death the Birkenhead congregation paid tribute to Rev. Finklestein who had faithfully served as their minister for 21 years. He died in Tottenham, north London, and, as Rev. Simon Stein, is buried at Edmonton cemetery. (JC report of 11 September 1914; JYB listings.)

Rev. Yitzchok Tzvi Finkelstein
(1921 - 28 January 1972)

Rev. Finkelstein (also known as I.C. Finkelstein) was born in Mihes-Cluj, Romania. He spent four years during World Wat II in a forced labour camp. After the was, he moved to Israel and participated in the War of Independence. He went to a local yeshiva, and subsequently trained in chazanut in Tel Aviv, at the Isaac Mann Conservatoire. In 1955, he was appointed minister at Yavneh Synagogue, South Hackney, London, where he served for four years, and was then appointed chazan at the Great Central Synagogue, South Portland Street, Glasgow. In about 1968, he become reader at the Penylan Synagogue of the Cardiff United Synagogue, serving until his death. He was also a composer. He was the father of chazanim, Rev. Aryeh Finkelstein and Rev. Meir Finkelstein. (JYB listings; and Jolles's Encyclopaedia, p. 464.)

Rev. Jeroham Hanan (Hyman) Finn
(c.1905 - 1969)

Rev. Jeroham Hanan Finn was for most of his career a shochet and later an inspector with the London Board for Shechita, and for many years the headmaster of the Grove Lane Talmud Torah in Hackney. He is believed to be the Rev. J.H. Finn who served as minister of Luton Hebrew Congregation, Bedfordshire, (c.1928) and of Llandudno Hebrew Congregation, North Wales (c.1945-c.1946). (JC obituary of Hymie Finn, 13 June 1969; JYB listings.)

Rabbi Yaacov Finn

Israel-born Rabbi Finn grew up in Borehamwood and studied at Netiv Aryeh Yeshiva in Jerusalem, UCL (earning a degree in Psychology), Montefiore College (awarded semicha) and UCL and Kings College London (an MSc in Health Psychology). He served as interim minister of Shenley Synagogue, Hertfordshire, during his training as a rabbi and subsequently was appointed as assistant (part-time) minister of Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue (BES), Hertfordshire, (2013 to present (September 2022). (Rabbi Finn's profile formerly on BES's website.)

Rabbi Dr. Solomon Fisch
(c.1889 - 31 August 1985)

Polish born Rabbi Fisch (m. Rebecca Swift, sister of Rabbi Harris Swift, Rabbi Isaac Swift and Dayan Moshe Swift) studied at Frankfurt yeshiva. He taught in both Frankfurt and Nuremburg before coming to Britain in 1922. He served at the Birmingham New Synagogue (c. 1925-1926) prior to becoming minister of the Sheffield Central Hebrew Congregation (1926-1946). While in Sheffield he enrolled at Leeds University where he obtained a master's degree and later a PhD. From 1946 he was rabbi at the Leeds New Central Synagogue, which in 1955 merged with the Vilna Synagogue, Leeds, to form the Leeds New Central Vilna Synagogue, and he continued to serve the merged congregation until 1958. He brought a claim for wrongful dismissal against the synagogue authorities which was settled out of court in 1961. He was Dayan on the Leeds Beth Din. In retirement Rabbi Fisch lived both in Leeds and Jerusalem where he is buried. A noted Hebrew scholar, his works include editing the Book of Ezekiel for the Soncino Books of the Bible series and editing the rabbinic commentary, Midrash Haggodol, on the Book of Numbers. Both his son, Professor Harold Fisch, rector of Bar Ilan University, and his grandson, David Harel, a leading computer scientist, were recipients of the Israel Prize. (Sheffield Jewry by Armin Krausz (1980); JC obituary 13 September 1985; JYB listings.)

Rev. Emanuel Fischer
(1916 - 14 May 2018)

Viennese born Rev Fischer came to England in 1938 under Rabbi Dr S. Schonfeld's European Child rescue scheme (part of the kindertransport programme) and married Betty (Bertha) Mayer in 1949. He served Mile End and Bow District Synagogue, east London, and Cardiff United Synagogue and then was for seven years second reader, secretary and Hebrew school teacher to Southend and Westcliff Hebrew Congregation (1957-1964). Rev Fischer then took up a position as reader and youth minister with the Perth Hebrew Congregation, Western Australia. He later relocated to Jerusalem where, as Rabbi Fischer, he was head of the religious affairs department at the JNF and chair of the British Settlers' Association (Hitachdut Olei Britannia). He died in Jerusalem. (Various JC reports.)

Rev. E. Fisher

Rev. E Fisher served as reader of the Chevrah Tehillim Synagogue, Lombard Street, Dublin (c.1939-c.1948) and it is believed that he is the same Rev. E. Fisher who served as reader for the Belfast Hebrew Congregation (c.1948-c.1950). (JYB listings.)

Dayan Michoel Fisher
(c.1910 - 7 January 2004)

Dayan Fisher (m. Sarah Miriam Wloski of Lomza, 1937) was one of the supreme Talmudists of his generation with complete mental mastery of the entire Talmud. He was born in Grodno (then in Imperial Russia, today in Belarus) into a rabbinical family of 14 children. He attended various prestigious yeshivot, including Grodno Yeshiva, Kamenetz Yeshiva, Radin Yeshiva, Bialystok Yeshiva and Mir Yeshiva, studying under some of the most illustrious figures of his time. In 1936 he was first appointed rabbi of a small synagogue in Warsaw, Poland, but managed to came to England in 1937, largely due to the rescue efforts of Rabbi Dr Solomon Schonfeld, thus escaping the Holocaust in which his entire immediate family were murdered apart from his father and a younger brother, Rabbi Reuben Fisher. Following his arrival in England, he was appointed rabbi of the Great Alie Street Synagogue in London's East End (1939-1940) and thereafter rabbi of Yavne Synagogue, Hackney, London (1940-1970). Dayan Fisher was a member of the Beis Din of the Federation of Synagogues, which he was instrumental in forming in 1966, and in 1969 he became the "Rav Rashi" of the Federation of Synagogues, following Rabbi Dr Eliezer Kirzner, becoming Rav Rashi Emeritus on his retirement in 1980. (Various on-line articles and obituary.)

Rabbi Reuben Fisher
(1927 - 24 October 2006)

Rabbi Fisher (m. Sarah Silver, 1956 in Glasgow) was born in Grodno (then in Lithuania, today in Belarus) into a rabbinical family of 14 children. He was educated at Grodno Yeshiva (where his father served as a professional fundraiser) and other yeshivot in Lithuania up to the time of the Soviet and Nazi invasions. Rabbi Fisher survived World War II amongst partisans, having earlier been shot by a German sniper. His father, who happened to be in England at the onset of the war, and his older brother, later Dayan Michoel Fisher, were the only survivors amongst his immediate family. He was brought to England from a displaced persons camp in Stuttgart, then in the American sector of Germany, to join his father in Manchester. His first synagogue position was in the East End of London. He then served the Queens Park Synagogue, Glasgow. In August 1964, Rabbi Fisher took up a post as reader and headteacher to the Newport Synagogue, Monmouthshire (1964-1974, a copy of his service agreement may be viewed here). He then went to Australia where he sat on the Sydney Bet Din. His last post was as minister to the St. Annes Hebrew Congregation (1978-1991). Rabbi Fisher made aliyah in 1991 but returned to the UK from Israel some years later owing to ill health and died in London. (JC obituary, 10 November 2006.)

Rev. Solomon (Charles) Fogelnest

Rev. Fogelnest's first known post was at Aberavon, South Wales (1904-c.1906), where he taught the Hebrew classes. He later served as chazan, shochet and teacher to the Reading Hebrew Congregation (1906-1913), where he founded a "Hebrew Juvenile Society". He was appointed as reader/minister and shochet at the Margate Hebrew Congregation, Kent, from 1913 until about 1918, being the congregation's first minister following the decision to form the congregation in 1910. He sought to supplement his income by teaching Jewish boys attending non-Jewish colleges locally and his wife offered to provide motherly care "to one or two delicate boys." However, as a result of the hardships caused to the town by World War I, the Jewish community had dwindled considerably to the extent that it was impossible for the congregation to meet its financial obligation, and the services of Rev. Fogelnest had to be dispensed with. By March 1918 he was appointed minister of the recently-formed Surbiton and Kingston Congregation where he conducted Hebrew classes and lead a dedicatory service for the community's new synagogue. He was later to serve the Reading Hebrew Congregation (1923-1933) for a second term as chazan, teacher and shochet and for a time as minister and secretary. He then retired in the early 1930s and for most of that decade Rev. Fogelnest ran a guest house at Boscombe, near Bournemouth, where he conducted religious services for guests. He was also active in Bournemouth's chevra kadisha. (Isle of Thanet Gazette article of 16 June 1928, JC reports and JYB listings.)

Rev Samuel Forscher
(25 February 1911 - 13 June 1983)

Rev. Samuel (Shmuel) Forscher was born in Maehrish-Ostrau, in what became Czechoslovakia, where his father, Rev. Abraham Moshe Forscher,  was a chazan-shochet. He received his rabbinic education and voice-training in chazanut at Pressburg Yeshiva (today Bratislava, Slovakia). In 1939 he left for British Mandate Palestine and served with the Haganah during the 1948 War of Independence. For a number of years Rev. Forscher served as chazan at the Geula Synagogue and the Synagogue Har HaCarmel, both in Haifa, before coming to London to take up his post as reader at Hammersmith and West Kensington Synagogue in 1954. He served there for 22 years, retiring in 1976, whereupon he was appointed emeritus reader. He was the twin brother of Rev. Solomon Forscher. (JC obituary 24 June 1983; Retirement Address in The Brook no 52 , Memorial Addressin The Brook no 59.)

Rev. Solomon Forscher
25 February 1911 - 4 January 1971)

Rev. Solomon (Shlomo) Forscher was born in Maehrish-Ostrau, Czechoslovakia, where his father, Rev. Abraham Moshe Forscher,  was a chazan-shochet. He received his rabbinic education and voice-training in chazanut at yeshivot in Sarad, the Pressburg (today Bratislava, Slovakia) and Prague. In 1938, he was appointed minister of the Klaus Orthodox Congregation in Prague. Following the Nazi take-over of Czechslovakia, he managed to escape and in 1939 he emigrated to British Mandate Palestine, where he served as chazan at Tel Aviv synagogues. He later acted as chaplain to the Israel Defence Forces. He came to England in 1953 and was appointed reader of The Great Synagogue, Duke's Place, London, serving until 1970. The congregation had been using a temporary structure, as the historic synagogue had been destroyed during a German air raid, and in 1958, the remnants of the congregation moved to Adler Street, East London. In March 1970, he took up his position as reader at the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation, Singers Hill, but sadly died in office in January 1971. He was the twin brother of Rev. Samuel Forscher and father-inlaw of Chazan Johnny Gluck of the Marble Arch Synagogue, London. (JC obituary 22 January 1971).

Rev. (later Dr.) Isaac Solomon Fox
(c.1897 - April 1974)

Born in Cracow, Poland and raised in Liverpool, Rev. I.S. Fox was the son of Rev. Dr. Jacob Samuel Fox. He was minister to the Grimsby Hebrew Congregation (January 1916 to about 1920, returning briefly in 1923). He then pursued a medical career (having graduated in medicine from Liverpool University). He remained active in synagogue and public life and was Mayor of Chester in 1932 and president of the Chester Hebrew Congregation. By 1938 Dr Fox was living in London and became president of Muswell Hill Synagogue. In 1954 he was elected chairman of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, and advocated the teaching of modern Hebrew in Jewish schools. In c.1964 he retired to Brighton where he died. (D and L Girlis, Story of the Grimsby Jewish community - Appendix List of Ministers. JC various reports and obituary 23 April 1971.)

Rev. Dr Jacob Solomon Fox

Rev. Fox was editor of the Hebrew weekly, Hamagid, and founder and principal of a Higher Grade Hebrew College in Liverpool. He served was principal of Aria College, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire from, from 1920 until 1930. He was the father of Rev. Dr. Isaac Solomon Fox. (The JC obituary 19 August 1938).

Rev. Samuel Frampton (formerly known as Rev. Samuel Friedeberg or Freedenberg)
(1862 - 9 July 1943)

Rev. Frampton, B.A., was born in Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, and trained for the Jewish ministry at Aria College, Portsea. In 1916 he changed his surname from Friedeberg to Frampton. From 1886 until 1891, he served as minister of the Newcastle United Hebrew Congregation (generally known as Leazes Park Road Synagogue) and as visiting minister to the communities in North Shields, South Shields and West Hartlepool, whilst at the same time studying for an external degree from the University of London. Subsequently he served as minister of Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation (Princes Road Synagogue) (1891-1932). ("Who's Who" entries and listings in JYBs; Jewish Chronicle reports; and Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History (2011) by W. Rubinstein (ed.) and M.A. Jolles and H. L. Rubinstein (ass. eds.), pp.288/9.)

Rev. Israel Frankenthal
(b. 1889)

Rev. Frankenthal was born in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, in Ottoman Palestine. After serving in Trieste, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), he came to Britain and served as reader, shochet mohel and teacher for the Aberdeen Hebrew Congregation (c.1914-c.1924), as well as visiting minister to Peterhead Prison. He left Aberdeen for Glasgow. (Caledonian Jews by Nathan Abrahams; JYB listings.)

Rev. S. Franklin

Rev. S. Franklin served as first reader of Leazes Park Road Synagogue, Newcastle (1906-c.1923). In August 2009, he officiated at the consecration of Durham Synagogue. (The Jewish Communities of North-East England by Lewis Olsover (1980), p.204.)

Rev. Max (Menachem Mendel) Franks (originally Ferberow)
(1869 - 30 September 1948)

The first-known post of Rev. Franks (m. Cherry) was as chazan at Crown Street Synagogue, Liverpool (1912). He subsequently served as minister of the Darlington Hebrew Congregation, County Durham (c.1914) and as minister of the Barrow-in-Furness Hebrew Congregation, then in Lancashire, (1914-c.1920) and its secretary (1916-c.1920). He was then minister of the Chester Hebrew Congregation (c.1920) and the Bangor Hebrew Congregation, north Wales (1921-c.1922). From about 1922 Rev. Franks served the Dundee Hebrew Congregation, described in 1938 as its long-serving minister. He was the father of the actor, and later Irish TV personality, Dennis Franks. Rev. Franks died in Liverpool and is buried at Rice Lane cemetery. (JC various reports, JCR-UK Liverpool burial record, JYB listings.).

Rev. Joshua Freedberg
(7 January 1890 - 15 August 1971)

Polish-born Rev. Freedberg (m. Bella Polakoff, daughter of Rabbi Moshe Polakoff) received his early cantorial training at the Great Synagogue, Lodz, Poland where his future father-in-law was reader. He briefly served at the Holy Law & Beth Aaron Synagogue and Beth Hamedrash, Manchester before becoming the long-serving reader of the Hull Western Synagogue from July 1928 until his retirement in 1967, and thereafter in an emeritus capacity. He was buried in Delhi Street cemetery, Hull. (JYB listings and JC obituary, 20 August 1971.)

Rev. Solomon Freedberg
(c.1889 - 22 August 1955)

Poland-born Rev. Freedberg (m. (1) Rachel nee Warmon, d. 1942; (2) Nellie nee Curlender, 1945) served the Great Yarmouth Hebrew Congregation, Norfolk (1914-1915), followed by his service as minister of the Aberdare and Aberaman Hebrew Congregation, south Wales (1915-1919). He was minister of the Blackburn Hebrew Congregation, Lancashire, from early 1920 until August 1921. He then became Reader at the United Synagogue, Manchester and served that congregation for approximately 35 years until his death in office. Rev. Freedberg served as a particularly conscientious chaplain and visitor to a number of hospitals and nursing homes and was a treasurer for the city's Hebrew Visitation Board. He was also for a time supervisor to the Hebrew classes at Heaton Park Hebrew congregation. He is buried at Phillips Park cemetery, Manchester. ("From Poland To Paradise Lane and Other Journeys" - a history of the Jewish community of Blackburn, by Hilary Thomas, 2018, including biography, p.138.; JC obituary 2 September 1955.)

Rev. Abraham Freedman
(23 January 1907 - 5 October 1978)

Leeds-born Rev. A. Freedman (m. Celia - d. 2005) studied at Manchester yeshiva. His first known post was as minister of Tredegar Synagogue, south Wales (c.1930-c.1933) and he then served as minister of Stockport Hebrew Congregation, then in Cheshire (1933-1944). He then served as reader of Bristol Hebrew Congregation (1944-1955), was reader for the Belfast Hebrew Congregation (1955-1957) and served as minister of the Darlington Hebrew Congregation (1958-1969, although according to some sources he remained in Darlington until 1971). Rev. Freedman was described as "the type of minister which is fast vanishing from the Anglo-Jewish scene, in that he served many communities as chazan, shochet, baal koreh and teacher". He died in Manchester and is buried at the UHC Gildersome cemetery in Leeds. (Jews in Bristol by J. Samuel, 1997; JC obituary 1 December 1978 press report; and JYB listings.)

Rev. Heshel (Harris) Freedman
(1905 - c.1970)

Manchester-born Rev. H. Freedman (m. Esther Nachimowicz) was living in Vilna, Poland in the 1920s. Briefly returning to Manchester, he then served as minister of Londonderry Hebrew Congregation, Northern Ireland (c.1933-c.1946). He died in Manchester, to where he had returned following the war. (JYB listings; Stuart Rosenblatt, A - Z Belfast and Northern Irish Jewry and obituary to his son Lionel Freedman, JC 7 May 2010.)

Rev. J. Freedman

Rev. J. Freedman served the Swansea Hebrew Congregation, Wales, from 1926 until 1969. He was appointed  shammas, porger (assistant shochet), collector, teacher and assistant reader to the congregation in 1926.  In 1945, he was reported as serving as acting lay minister, possibly covering for Rev. J. Weintrobe, who may still have been on active duty as chaplain to the armed forces.  Subsequently his position with the congregation is uncertain, until 1956, when he re-entered the employment of the congregation as a reader to the congregation and by 1962 he was appointed to act as minister, while also still serving as reader, teacher and shochet, until his retirement in 1969. (1980 souvenir brochure of the Swansea congregation, pp.63 and 67; and JYB listings.)

Rabbi Levi Freedman
(1902 - 27/8 August 1994)

Rabbi L. Freedman, the son of Rabbi Kalman Colnas (aka Freedman) and grandson of Rabbi Yehudah Leib Freedman (previously Cofnas), was born in Manchester but, as a child, moved with his family back to Poland. He studied at Chevron Yeshivah and then Manchester. He was the lecturer of the Birmingham Hebrew Study Circle (c.1930-c.1936) and also served in the 1930s as minister of Birmingham New Synagogue, where he was joined by his brother, Rabbi Yerachmiel Cofnas, (aka Freedman), who assisted him in his ministerial duties and succeeded him as minister of the congregation in 1938. He later went to New York. (Rabbi Yerachmiel Cofnas by Rabbi M.B Katanka; JYB listings, JC obituary and press reports, Interview - accessed 5 January 2021.)

Rabbi Dr. Moshe Freedman

Rev. Dr. Freedman, from Kingston-Upon-Thames, obtained a PhD from Surrey University in Medical Electronics and Medical Physics before studying in Israel at the David Shapell College of Jewish Studies, Yeshivat Darche Noam, Jerusalem, where he obtained semicha. He served as minister of the Northwood United Synagogue, London (2009-2015), before being appointed as minister of the New West End Synagogue, London, in 2015. He served there until April 2023 (although he last officiated at the synagogue in May 2022). (JYB listings; and JC reports.)

Rev. Philip Freedman (previously Rev. Philip Friedman)

Rev. Philip Freedman (or Friedman), the son of Rev. David Freedman, maggid in Leeds, served as minister and shochet of the Coventry Hebrew Congregation (1914-1916) and as minister of the Newbridge Hebrew Congregation, Monmouthshire, (1916-1919) and the Norwich Hebrew Congregation, Norfolk (c.1919-1920) and from 1920 served as minister of the Oxford Road Hebrew Congregation, Manchester. (JC reports; and JYB listings.)

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Freedman (formerly Colnas or Tzofnas)
(1839 - 12/13 September 1925)

Rabbi Y.L. Cofnas was the the son of Rabbi David Cofnas (Tzofnas). On coming to Britain, he adopted the surname Freedman. He served as second reader of the Claff Shool (officially the Holy Law & Beth Aaron Synagogue and Beth Hamedrash), Manchester, and frequently gave voluntary shiurim to the congregants. He was the father of Rabbi Kalman Colnas and the grandfather of Rabbi Levi Freedman and Rabbi Yerachmiel Cofnas. He is buried in Failsworth Jewish cemetery, Manchester. (Rabbi Yerachmiel Cofnas by Rabbi M.B Katanka;  Interview - accessed 5 January 2021.)

Rabbi Dovid Freilich
(5 September 1896 - 1996)

Rabbi Freilich (m. Dina Ansbacher), a son of Rabbi S.N. Freilich of Yugoslavia, served as minister of Dublin's United Hebrew Congregation, Greenville Hall (c.1946-c.1948) and as a rav at the Gateshead Kolel with special responsibility for fund raising (1948 to 1962). He was the brother of Rev. Ezekiel Freilich, Rev. Naftali Freilich and Cantor Emanuel Freilich of Manchester and the son-in-law of Rabbi Simcha Ansbacher of Nuremberg. (Jolles's Encyclopaedia; JYB listings.)

Rev. Ezekiel Freilich
(26 September 1900 - 1950)

Rev. Freilich (m. Lilly Levine), was born in Trnava, Austro-Hungarian Empire (in what is now Slovakia) and was a son of Rabbi S.N. Freilich of Yugoslavia. He served his first term as minister of the Bolton Hebrew Congregation, Lancashire, from 1928 to 1933, and then served as minister of the West Hartlepool Hebrew Congregation, County Durham (1933-1944). He then returned to Bolton as minister from 1944 till 1950. During this period, he was also for a time visiting minister to the nearby Preston Synagogue and the Blackburn Hebrew Congregation. Rev Freilich died suddenly in Bolton in 1950. He was a teacher, Zionist activist and represented the Bolton congregation to the wider community. He was the brother of Rabbi Dovid Freilich, Rev. Naftali Freilich, Cantor Leazer Freilich and Cantor Emanuel Freilich of Manchester. (Bolton Synagogue and its Ministers by Hilary Thomas (co-author with John Cowell of An Industrious Minority; "From Poland To Paradise Lane and Other Journeys" - a history of the Jewish community of Blackburn, by Hilary Thomas, 2018; JC obituary 5 May 1950.)

Rev. Naftali (Nandor) Freilich
(c.1911 - 1949)

Rev. N. Froelich (or Froelich), of Budweiss, Austro-Hungarian Empire (today Ceske Budejovice in Czechia), was a son of Rabbi S.N. Freilich of Yugoslavia. He was Cantor at Zagreb for five years, and studied music at the Munich Conservatoire. Arriving initially in Britain as a refugee, he came to Dublin in 1939 (m. Eudice Buchalter in 1943) and became chazan and, for a time financial secretary, of the Dublin Hebrew Congregation's Adelaide Road synagogue. He served until his death in office ten years later, aged only 38. He was the brother of Rabbi Dovid Freilich, Rev. Ezekiel Freilich and Cantor Emanuel Freilich of Manchester. (JC obituary 8 April 1949, report 12 May 1939.)

Rev. (later Rabbi) Elias Friedlander
(c.12 July 1846 - 22 February 1927)

Rev. Friedlander was born in Kovno, Lithuania and immigrated initially to Germany, where studied at the yeshiva in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland). He then moved to England and served as reader of the Sunderland Hebrew Congregation (1871-1878), where he introduced a choir consisting of six boys and four men. He was then appointed as the spiritual leader of the English and German congregation in Kingston, Jamaica (1879-1882). In 1884, he moved to North America and served as rabbi of a number of congregations, primarily reform, in Montreal (1884-1896), New York and Chicago (1896-1899), Montreal again (1899-1901), Winnipeg (1905-1907), Vancouver, New York again, and Victoria (1910 until retirement in 1912). He died in Victoria. (Arnold Levy, Sunderland Jewish Community pp.82/3; online biography on Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol.XV.)

Rev. Emerich I. Friedlander (later Cantor Yitzchak Eshel)
(1912 - 2006)

Rev. Friedlander (m. Hilda Stiel) was born in Debrecen, Hungary and studied at the Chatam Sofer Yeshivah in Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia). At the age of 19 he was chief cantor in Munich, Germany where he also studied in the Conservatory. Before the World War II he served as cantor in Manchester, England and in Debrecen. In 1938 he was appointed cantor to the famous Nozyck Synagogue in Warsaw, but because of rising antisemitism he declined the position. He was chazan to the Southport Hebrew Congregation, Lancashire (1947-1949). In 1949 he emigrated to Israel, where he adopted the name Yitzchak Eshel, and was appointed the cantor for the Great Synagogue in Ramat Gan. He became well known throughout Israel, and worked later in Belgium and USA. A number of Chazan Eshel's recordings are available on Youtube. ("Philanthropy, Consensus and Broiges...a history of the Southport Jewish Community" by John Cowell, p.639 and online profile.)

Rabbi Meyer Frydman
(27 December 1909 - 29 September 1994)

Rabbi Frydman (m. Gertrude (Gertie) Frumkin, granddaughter of Rav. Aryeh Leib Frumkin, in London in 1939) was born in Chechnowitzh, Poland (now Czernowitz, Ukraine). He studied at the yeshivot of Bialystok, Stedlitz and Grodno and came to England in 1935. He worked in his in-laws family wine merchants business in Commercial Road, in London's East End. He served as minister of the Seven Sisters Road Hebrew Congregation, London (often referred to as the "Frumkin Shul") from at least 1945 to about 1975 In the 1950s and  1960s he was an honorary officer of the Willesden Yeshivah and Redman's Road Talmud Torah. He served on the board of Etz Chaim Yeshivah when it moved from the East End to North-West London. Rabbi Frydman was later vice president of the Federation of Synagogues and also of the religious Zionist Mizrahi Federation. He lived in Willesden, northwest London and was active on the Board of Deputies. He died in Israel and is buried in Jerusalem. (JC obituary 21 October 1994, JYB listings and press reports.)

Rev. Jacob Furst
(c.1844 - 3 November 1918)

Rev. Furst was born at Polange, Courland (today Palanga, Lithuania) and was educated at a Jewish college in Vilna. After coming to Britain, he served as a chazan initially in London and then at the Hull Hebrew Congregation, Robinson Row, Hull, from at latest 1871. He then served as chazan to the Middlesbrough Hebrew Congregation (1874-1879). Subsequently, and for the remainder of his career, Rev. Furst was minister and chazan to the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, Scotland (1879-1918) and from time to time acted as visiting minister to a number of other congregations, including the Exeter Hebrew Congregation, Devon (in 1884). In addition, he conducted the religion school, was a senior shochet, Masonic chaplain, hon. secretary to the Hebrew Benevolent Society, president of the Jewish Literary Society, and chief Jewish chaplain under the Scottish Prison commissioners. Rev. Furst conducted the consecration service for the congregation's new synagogue at Graham Street in 1899. He was well respected in high society, in 1890, when Lady Rosebery (née Hannah Rothschild) was dying, she sent for Rev. Furst to administer her spiritual needs. During King Edward VII's state visit to Edinburgh, Furst was presented to the king as the representative of His Majesty’s Hebrew subjects in Scotland. He retired in January 1918 and was appointed emeritus minister. He died later that year. (JC obituaries of Mrs J. Furst of 15 November 1912 and of Rev J. Furst of 8 November 1918 and various other JC reports.)

Rev. Simon Fyne
(c.1858 - 20 April 1936)

Rev. S. Fyne (m. Ida) was born in Kovno (today Kaunas, Lithuania) and qualified as a teacher at Jews' College. He served the Bath Hebrew Congregation (from 1881), the Southampton Hebrew Congregation (from 1883, c.1890-c.1896), was briefly first minister, secretary and teacher at West End Talmud Torah, London (c.1897), and at the Newport Hebrew Congregation (c.1898). His next ministry, at Swansea Hebrew Congregation (1899-1906), is the subject of an academic article (see foot of profile) which highlights the divisions between the established Jewish community of Swansea and the newly arrived immigrants from Eastern Europe. Unusually in 1905 Rev. Fyne was elected the treasurer of the congregation whilst serving as minister. He was also vice president of Swansea Zionist Society and visiting minister to the near-by Llanelly Hebrew Congregation. In 1906, after much disagreement and friction in the community, he was given six months notice and left in December 1906 for London, where he preached at a number of synagogues before moving to the United States. By 1910, has received semicha and was rabbi of the Montefiore congregation, Philadelphia, and was later rabbi of the Congregation of Adath Yeshurun in Ottowa, Canada (1912-1920). He was a frequent letter writer and contributor to the Jewish Chronicle, particularly on the festivals. In 1896 he advocated a break in the Yom Kippur services between musaph and mincha, to enable congregants to take fresh air and for crowded synagogues to be ventilated (apparently not yet an accepted practice in England). He died at Mount Sinai Hospital, Philadelphia, USA. ("The Jews of South Wales" by Ursula R.Q. Henriques, p.96; On-line abstract of "The ministry of the Reverend Simon Fyne in Swansea:1899-1906," by Leonard Mars, Jewish Social Studies, vol. 50 (Winter 1988-spring 1992) pp.83-98; various JC reports; and online research.)